Argument: US has a responsibility to lead on climate change and in Kyoto

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Supporting quotations

Chris Dodd, US Senator (D-CT), stated in an Apr. 19, 2007 - "There is no reason why the United States should be falling behind countries such as Germany, Brazil and Japan when it comes to renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar and biofuels. If other countries can do it, America can do it better. That is why, for all its flaws, it was a disgrace that this Administration abandoned the Kyoto Protocol - that they picked up their chair and went home. In a Dodd Administration, America will lead the world in reversing the effects of global climate change, convening an International Global Warming Summit."

Joe Biden, US Senator (D-DE), stated in a Mar. 30, 2001 press release - "The President's decision to turn his back on this treaty is a huge setback for the environment and could delay action on global warming for years... The United States has an inescapable responsibility to lead on global environmental challenges. It's wrong to simply walk away from this international agreement."[1]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in the Summer of 2008, "I sincerely hope the next US administration will demonstrate a greater leadership role."[2]

Mohammad Reza Salamat, an interregional adviser on climate change and energy issues for the United Nations in New York. - "With the U.S. out, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to have developing countries in. And with developing countries out, it would be extremely difficult to have the U.S. in."[3]